A Life Shared
by Nightfoot
Summary: The chances of them both getting out of this situation alive were abysmal, and Flynn was determined to make sure Yuri was the one who lived. Of course, Yuri was equally determined to make sure it was Flynn.


This is based on a piece of fanart, as prompted by Suguelya on Tumblr.

* * *

**A Life Shared**

When Yuri told him he was leaving the Knights, they'd both said a lot of things they regretted. The argument had gone on for hours, and by the end of it, Flynn had called Yuri 'irresponsible', 'coward', and 'immature', among many more. For his part, Yuri had called Flynn 'brown-noser', 'conformist', 'goody-two-shoes', and more iterations of 'moron' than Flynn had known existed. Most of them hadn't been child friendly.

Through all the insults, there was one thing Flynn said he regretted the most. Near the end of the argument, when he had mostly given up convincing Yuri to stay, he'd sat on the edge of his bed and said, "Yuri, please. Don't give up on the Knights. Stay with me."

"I told you already, Flynn." He'd stood by the window, his back to Flynn. "I've made up my mind. I don't have a place in the Knights. It's not for me."

They'd spent most of their childhood arguing and insulting each other, so the hurtful words they'd flung at each other were easily forgotten and forgiven. They could have left it at that, but then Flynn had gone and said, "Would you stay if I told you I had feelings for you?"

The room, which had been so heated before, turned deathly cold. Flynn regretted the words the moment they left his mouth and winced as he saw Yuri's shoulders tense, his fingers curl around the windowsill.

"What the hell?"

It was too late to take it back. Flynn didn't even know why he'd said it. Maybe it was because he'd been tripping over himself trying to put it into words for months and feared this might be his last chance, or maybe he was just desperate to say anything that might get Yuri to stay.

When Flynn didn't respond, Yuri turned around. "Why would you say that?"

Something heavy hung in Flynn's chest. "Because it's true."

"And you decided to bring it up _now_?"

"It's still true. If you don't feel the same way, I understand. I just thought you should know."

"You manipulative piece of…" Yuri groaned and looked away. "I can't do this now, Flynn. What do you want me to say? You want me to drop on one knee and tell you I'll stay by your side forever if it means true love?"

"No, of course I-"

"Or should I tell you I share your feelings but that I'm leaving anyway? Is that going to make you feel better?"

"I just-"

"The only other option is that I tell you I just want to be friends, leaving you broken-hearted after I leave."

Flynn hung his head, dearly wishing he was better at holding his tongue when he got emotional. After a long silence, Yuri stormed out.

Flynn had seen Yuri only briefly after that, enough to say a quick goodbye. Neither of them mentioned how their previous conversation had ended.

That became a recurring theme in all future interactions. Flynn deeply regretted his words, because throwing them at Yuri in a last-ditch effort to get him to stay had been a terrible move. Yuri never brought it up either, apparently forgiving him for being desperate.

Still… he'd never gotten an answer to his question, either. Flynn could never stop wondering what Yuri might have said if it hadn't come at the end of such an argument, but he was too worried about shattering their fragile peace to bring it up again.

There were so many other things to worry about now, though. Namely, the rippling mass of aer stretching across the sky and threatening to devour the entire planet. Tomorrow, Yuri and his friends were on their way to Tarquaron to put an end to the Adephagos once and for all.

"So what you're saying is, I can use you as a meat shield even from a distance?"

Flynn slapped his forehead. "No, that wasn't my point at all."

They were several miles from Aurnion now and the moon was high above them. They had just turned around and begun the journey home. Flynn thought they should have headed back half an hour ago, especially since Yuri had such an important day tomorrow, but Yuri kept saying they should stay out a little longer. Flynn obliged, because they both knew there was a chance Yuri wouldn't make it back from Tarquaron and this might be their last night to hang out.

"I don't know what other point you might have if you're saying you can magically absorb injuries from people nearby."

"It's a weapon skill," Flynn clarified one more time. "It works with blastia. And don't be silly, I can't absorb injuries. It merely splits the weakness that comes from being injured across two parties so that you don't lose as much strength as you normally would."

"Yeah, so you're shielding people and you're made of meat. Meat shield."

Flynn rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Yuri." To be honest, he missed this. His friendship with Yuri had been so tense ever since Yuri left the Knights, but their battle outside Aurnion earlier this evening had finally put things at ease. He almost wondered if he should bring up that lingering question again… but no. It was a bad time again. Yuri didn't need that hanging over his head before running off to Tarquaron.

Yuri just laughed. "Weapon skills are weird."

"Yes, though very useful. It's scary to think how different combat will be once we lose blastia." He had one that took the edge off any physical injury at the cost of lowering his aer-manipulation ability, and considering he relied on his sword more than anything else, it seemed like a good trade to him. His whole fighting style was going to have to change after Yuri succeeded tomorrow, and that was just the tip of the iceberg of all the changes the world was going to experience.

Repede barked, and Yuri translated. "Repede says we shouldn't get so hung up on blastia and that we'll be perfectly fine fighting on our own talents."

Flynn scratched behind Repede's ears. "You think so, Repede?"

Repede barked again, but then he stopped and curled his lips, staring into the trees. Flynn and Yuri stopped as well, ears alert for any noise. They were several miles from Aurnion, in the foothills and surrounded by trees. Flynn listened closely to chirping crickets and the wind rustling the branches, but what was Repede –

The attack came from above. Four men dropped from the branches and Flynn had his sword out by the time their feet hit the ground. They were outnumbered, but Flynn was confident. He was the commandant of the Imperial Knights and Yuri had shown just a few hours ago that he was equally strong, if not better. What threat could some random thugs pose them?

Flynn flew into the battle. After fighting with Yuri not too long ago, these guys were child's play. He and Yuri fought in tandem. They guarded each other's backs without having to look, while Repede tore between them. Within minutes, two of the bandits were dead.

Maybe the problem was that Flynn let himself get cocky. He was still enthusiastic about his fight with Yuri and so confident that they were going to save the world tomorrow that he misjudged his opponent. Maybe he was just more tired than he thought and missed something obvious. Either way, he made a mistake.

He struck the third bandit down, and then turned to help Yuri and Repede finish off the last. Just as he stepped away, the bandit on the ground grabbed his cape with the last of his strength. He jerked and Flynn toppled backward, too surprised to catch himself. He hit the ground with a grunt and saw a flash of steel. His eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the dying bandit to slash it across his throat.

Then the bandit gurgled and Yuri was there. He'd dashed over the moment he saw Flynn fall out of the corner of his eye and finished the bandit off.

Flynn took a deep breath, still reeling from his brush with death. "Thanks."

"Be more careful." He knelt and held out his hand to help Flynn up.

Repede yelped and Flynn looked just in time to see Repede fell to the ground and the remaining bandit lung at Yuri's back.

He had a moment to shout, "Yuri!"

The moment wasn't long enough. Yuri's eyes widened and a slight gasp escaped him as a blood-slicked sword shot out his torso. In one second, a wave of horror, grief, terror, and rage rushed through Flynn. He only had one second to feel it, because the sword kept moving. Yuri dropped to his hands and knees, straddling Flynn, as the bandit pushed the sword further and it slid into Flynn's chest.

The agony was immediate and all-consuming. Somewhere, he could hear Repede snarling and getting back to his feet but he couldn't focus on that. Blinded by pain, he could only lie still and gasp for air as the excruciating pain overflowed from his chest and took off to find room down his arms, in his stomach, through his jaw.

Rushing blood in his ears. Agony in his chest. No air in his lungs.

"…ynn?"

The voice came from so far away, and then something thudded against his face.

"Flynn? Flynn, come on, open your eyes. Don't you dare tell me you're dead."

His eyes fluttered open. In almost twenty years of friendship, he had never seen Yuri so terrified as he patted Flynn's cheek.

"Yes! That's right, look at me, you're alive."

Barely. He forced himself to breathe. If the pain in his chest had been fire, inflating his lungs was a volcano.

Where was the man who had stabbed them? He tried to look around, but couldn't move his head. Too much pain.

"He's dead," Yuri said, seeing the question in his eyes. "Repede got him. It's going to be ok, just hold on. Repede's gone to get help."

Yuri was pale and shaking too. That's right, the sword wracking havoc in his chest was also pierced through Yuri's side. Blood oozed down the length of steel that pinned them together.

Flynn struggled for air and coughed, and then nearly passed out from the pain. The small, logical part of his mind that survived through the thrashing agony of dying worked out his situation. The sword went straight through his right lung, which had obviously collapsed. This would be causing fluid to build up in his chest cavity, putting pressure on his heart. For now the sword was keeping most of the blood inside his body, but it wasn't bleeding to death that was going to do him in. No, he'd drown in his own fluids before reaching that point.

Every breath was effort and he considered just giving up. It was the look in Yuri's eyes that kept him going, because he didn't want to force Yuri to lie here on his dead body. That was too cruel.

Yuri couldn't be much better, though. He was completely impaled, his arms shaking with the effort of holding himself up lest he fall forward and further the damage. At least with the angle, it looked like it had missed Yuri's lung. Good. If he stayed still and kept the sword steady, he would last long enough for Repede to come back with Estelle. Flynn was pretty sure he didn't have that much time.

His eyes slipped closed again.

"No! Come on, Flynn, stay with me."

He forced them open. He was going to die here, and Yuri was going to have to lie there with his corpse until Estelle got here. With his eyes, Flynn tried to convey an apology. There was no chance of putting it into words, because the only vocalization he felt capable of between shallow gasps for air were pained gurgles.

"You can't die now, Flynn. Promise me you won't." Yuri's words tumbled frantically out of his mouth. "Remember a few years ago, the night I left the Knights? Do you remember what you said?"

Of course he did, but why was he bringing this up _now_? And Yuri had criticized _him_ for bringing it up at a bad time.

"I never gave you an answer. There was never a good time. _Now_ isn't a good time either, but that means you can't die. Ok? You can't possibly die as long as I hold this over you."

Flynn nodded slowly, too pained to argue. A metal hand had reached into his chest and was attempting to crush his heart, and it grew worse every time he forced air down his throat and attempted to inflate his ruined lung.

Yuri let out a low gasp. "Wait… this guy next to you… he dropped his bag."

Good for him. Flynn involuntarily coughed again, and between waves of excruciating agony he tasted coppery blood on his lips.

"I think… I can reach it…" Yuri balanced his weight on one arm and leaned forward. The sword shifted and Flynn let out a cry while Yuri winced. "I got it!"

The rustling of something dragging across the dirt. A flap falling open, shuffling around the contents.

"Flynn… he's got a lemon gel. You're still with me, right?"

Flynn nodded slowly and blearily stared at the squishy yellow mass in Yuri's hand.

"It's going to be ok. Just eat this and you'll be fine."

No, he wouldn't. A lemon gel was powerful, but not powerful enough to fix a collapsed lung. There was a chance it would be enough to keep him alive until Estelle got here, but it definitely wasn't guaranteed.

"I'll just pull the sword out, eat it, and you'll be fine."

Flynn tried to meet Yuri's eyes but he was fading quickly. He couldn't get enough air through his struggling lungs and his heart seemed ready to burst from the pressure. He slowly shook his head.

"What do you mean? Just eat it!"

Yuri held it out but Flynn turned his head away. He could barely get air down his throat; how was he supposed to swallow a gel? There was too much fluid to let anything else in. Yuri didn't seem to realize that Flynn wasn't bleeding out; he was _drowning_.

Yuri needed to eat that gel. Moving to reach for it had widened the wound, so the sword wasn't fully plugging it anymore. The stain on the front of his shirt had already widened and he was going to bleed to death soon if he didn't eat it.

"No, I'm not going to take it myself! If only one of us is going to survive this, it's going to be you, all right? The empire needs you. I'm expendable."

Flynn managed to pack enough emotion through his pain-filled eyes to carry across his message. _No, you're not. You'll never be expendable. Especially not to me_.

"Well, I'm definitely more expendable than you! You're the commandant. You _have_ to live!"

Flynn didn't answer. It was too much. Not enough air and too much pain, everything apart from Yuri turned fuzzy and dark and he wondered if it was possible to die just from overwhelming pain before drowning took him.

"You're so stupid. I can't take the gel with the sword still in me, can I? I can keep it in while taking it out of you so you can heal, but if I try to heal myself, I'd be forced to kill you by removing the sword."

It would be a good point, if Flynn wasn't going to die anyway. Yuri _had_ to take the gel, or else both of them were going to die.

"You're going to live, Flynn! You are! I still have to give you my answer, don't I?"

Flynn shook his head and fixed Yuri with a glare. _Don't you dare try to save me. Use that gel on yourself. _

Yuri understand the glare perfectly and he saw how determined Flynn was. "Flynn…" he croaked.

Flynn clenched his fists and forced a deep gulp of air into his lung. With all the strength he had, he forced out, "Promise."

"Please, Flynn… you can't die like this."

He couldn't even try to speak again. The last time he'd done it the pain nearly killed him, especially followed by how broken Yuri's voice was. _Promise me, Yuri_.

Yuri hesitated for what might have been forever, but then he nodded with his eyes tearing up. "O-ok. I promise."

Flynn managed a smile. Good. Yuri, at least, would live to defeat the Adephagos tomorrow. He could rest easily knowing that. His muscles went limp and just forcing air into his single functioning lung felt like lifting a thousand pound weight. His head was light and darkness loomed on all sides. This… this was it. No man could be forced to endure a minute more of this agony.

"No, Flynn, come on… stay with me… don't go."

Flynn had never heard Yuri's voice sound so small before. It was almost unnerving. Yuri set the lemon gel on the ground and curled his fingers around Flynn's hand, squeezing him tight.

"I have to… I have to give you my answer…"

Better hurry. He was fading fast.

Yuri leaned forward, the sword shifting again and sending hot blood dripping off Yuri's chest and onto Flynn's. The shifting sword sent bolts of agony through Flynn, and his vision blacked out with a strangled gasp. Just as he felt Yuri's lips brush his own, his last grip on consciousness gave out and he slipped into oblivion.

* * *

Yuri tasted blood around Flynn's mouth. He sat still, pressing his lips against Flynn's, desperate for a response even as the hand he held went slack. _Please, Flynn… kiss me back… just once…_

It was too late. Flynn lay motionless beneath him and Yuri slowly pulled his head up. He'd waited all this time, always thinking there would be a better time to give Flynn an answer, but he'd missed his chance. It was almost more painful than the sword splitting him open.

His breath shook and he stared at the lemon gel on the ground. He should eat it. All he had to do was pull the sword out of Flynn, roll onto his side, then yank it out his back. That might be difficult and he would probably cut his hand, but he could manage if it would keep him from bleeding to death.

He gazed at Flynn, who suddenly twitched and inhaled. He was alive! But only just. The breath was short and difficult, and Flynn was still unresponsive. Yuri felt the side of his neck to find Flynn's pulse. It was still there, but faint and fluttering.

The agony in his side and panic over Flynn had made time race, but it had been less than five minutes since they'd been stabbed. Ok, under five minutes for him to pass out. But that meant they had at least a few more minutes until he actually died, right? Definitely not enough time to wait for Estelle. Yuri could _probably_ wait for Estelle if he didn't move the sword around anymore… maybe. It would be close. He had to make a decision.

All it took was remembering the feel of Flynn's fingers intertwined with his and imagining living the rest of his life in a world where that could never happen again. Without a second thought, he crushed the gel in his hand to break through the protective outer layer the way your teeth were supposed to and then jerked upward.

The sword slid out of Flynn's chest with a wet pop and not a second later Yuri pushed the crushed gel into the wound. He worked it into the puncture whole with trembling hands, praying it would be enough. Gels could be applied topically in a pinch, but they would only heal the immediate vicinity.

"Come on… come on… this has got to be enough…" This had to work, because to get the gel in he'd had to move the sword, which was the only thing keeping blood from gushing everywhere. Now the red swirled into yellow ooze, turning it a sickly orange as it worked its magic.

It was hard to see through the bloodstained shirt, but the wound knit together. Flynn took another gasp for air as his body jolted and then breath came a little easier.

Yuri couldn't keep a smile off his face. Good. Flynn was alive.

Yuri collapsed to his side. Yanking the sword out of Flynn had dragged it a couple of inches through his insides and it would no longer do anything to plug the hole. He took a deep breath, feeling blood rush out of the puncture wounds in his back and his chest. He didn't have time to wait for Estelle anymore… but Flynn did. The lemon gel would tide him over, and then he could get back to reforming the Knights.

Yuri closed his eyes and scooted closer to Flynn, reaching out and taking his hand once again. As he wrapped one clammy hand around Flynn's, taking comfort in the warmth that signified a glimmer of life, he decided there were worse ways to die.

* * *

Flynn's eyes flickered open. There were dark trees overhead and his chest ached. What…?

The bandits! He gasped, his chest painfully tight. One hand on his chest, he looked around in confusion. Hadn't he died? He distinctly remembered dying. But where the sword in his chest had been, he just felt a raised, sore welt.

Then he felt the hand on his and looked down at Yuri, the sword still embedded in his side. That lying son of a bitch had given him the lemon gel, hadn't he? He was supposed to defeat the Adephagos tomorrow. He pushed himself upright, amking his chest scream in pain. Yuri was already drenched in blood but the slight rise and fall of his chest meant he was still alive. As long as he was alive, Flynn could do something to save him.

Maybe one of the other bandits had another gel. He tried to stand, but the wave of dizziness knocked him back down. He forced a deep, pained breath and noted that only half of his chest actually inflated. It made his torso look partially crushed.

He could do this. He'd find something to save Yuri, even if he only had one functioning lung and so much pressure in his chest he wondered if his heart had been replaced by a fiery ember. His heavy, aching arms struggled to pull him forward in a crawl. Every breath came forced and pained but he pushed himself onward.

At long last, he made it to the other fallen bandit and pried open his bag with shaking fingers. A knife. Sword polish. Old beef jerky. No gels. What kind of useless bandits were these?

None of the rest of the men carried gels, either. Flynn had dragged himself all over the battlefield to search them, but found nothing of use. He nearly collapsed with despair, but forced another ragged breath and crawled back to Yuri. His body whined and threatened to pass out, but he forced it to keep moving until he got to Yuri's side and collapsed, his head resting against Yuri's arm.

_You stupid idiot_. He didn't have the lung capacity to waste precious air on actually speaking. He wheezed again and sat still, trying to regain his strength. There had to be _something_ he could do. He itched to cast a healing arte, but after brushing so closely with death, he didn't have nearly enough power for channelling aer. The lemon gel had given him enough strength to keep living, but nothing more than that.

Yuri was bleeding out right in front of him. Blood soaked into the ground and his face was pale and cool. This wasn't supposed to happen! He was supposed to slip into death with the comfort of knowing Yuri would live to save the world, but now he sat here, struggling to breathe, watching his closest friend bleed to death. _Don't you dare start crying, Flynn. Hold yourself together. If you start choking on tears and clogging your nose with snot you may in fact suffocate and then what would Yuri's sacrifice be for?_

It had all happened so fast. His mind drifted to the casual conversation they'd been having not fifteen minutes ago, unable to accept that it was the last good memory he'd ever share with Yuri. Why hadn't he used that last conversation to tell Yuri how much he truly meant to him? Instead they'd wasted it joking about being a meat shield.

He sucked in a raspy breath and clutched Yuri's hand. For now, he could steal feel a snatch of warmth and a faint, fluttering pulse in the wrist. Time trickled by and each forced breath came after a prolonged pause. The battle had been less than ten minutes ago, so birds and animals frightened off by the commotion still hadn't returned. The forest was silent between his gasps for air, fittingly subdued as Flynn's world came crashing down.

If only he could be a meat shield for Yuri now. He'd _tried_ to save Yuri at the cost of himself, but the lying bastard had ruined that. What else could he do? He didn't have the energy to cast, but…

He did have the energy to keep himself alive, though. It was different. Strength to channel aer through a blastia was a spiritual energy, distinct from the spark that kept your heart beating. That was why people like Rita Mordio had such incredible power with aer despite being physically weaker than himself or Yuri. Flynn had perfected a rare skill at drawing physical energy out of his spiritual energy stores, but that wouldn't help him in this situation. He didn't _have_ any spiritual energy stores; that was the problem.

Hypothetically speaking, though, if such a thing were possible, shouldn't the reverse also be true? The mere fact that he could do one proved that the two types of energy _could_ be converted. If he could turn spiritual energy into physical energy… he should be able to make it work the other way, too.

Hope flared. It wasn't much to go on, but it was his only shot and even the tiniest fraction of a chance was infinitely greater than nothing. He would cast First Aid and cure Yuri by drawing the energy out of his own life. He would make this work. He _had_ to.

Flynn dragged himself upright, resting one hand on Yuri's side. He took a deep, rattling breath and concentrated. Energy was energy. The energy that powered artes came from aer, while the energy that powered life was electrical. Energy didn't just come from nowhere, though. It came from the food they ate, and ultimately it was sunlight converted by photosynthesis. All he had to do was convert one form of energy into a different force, which was clearly possible in other cases.

He pictured it in his mind, glowing red life flowing across his view and morphing into something else. Just reverse the process he had already mastered. It should be easy.

His fingers tingled, chest tightened, vision swam. He was close to passing out again. Losing strength. It wasn't just leaking into the world this time, though. He could feel a burning drive deep in his core, a strength that could move aer now even if it could no longer keep a heart pumping.

_Move quickly, before you pass out_. He grabbed the hilt of the sword and yanked. Yuri's whole body stiffened and blood gushed with renewed vigour once the sword was out. Flynn planted his hand over the wound on Yuri's front and took as deep a breath as he could manage.

_I am energy. Life is energy. Turn one form of energy into the other…_

"First Aid!" he gasped, and golden light flowed out of him.

Yuri's wound closed. Flynn smiled, and then collapsed. He lay on his side and watched Yuri's eyes slowly open. Every speck of strength Flynn had left went into forcing his one lung to keep working, but he managed to scrape together enough extra to smile.

Yuri groaned, one hand over his bloody shirt. "What the hell did you do?" Yuri took a few deep breaths and then wriggled closer, until he and Flynn were only inches apart. "Idiot."

_You're one to talk_.

Yuri pulled his hand away from his side and slung it over Flynn. This left a bloody handprint, but Flynn was already so covered in blood that hardly seemed to matter. In a low, pained voice, he murmured, "Thanks."

Flynn met his eyes, trusting Yuri would understand his message through the exhaustion and gasps for breath.

"You really wanted to hear my answer, huh? To the question of whether I have feelings for you, too?"

Yuri didn't really need to say anything more, because the look in his eyes announced it loud and clear. Yuri understood that, too, because instead of wasting time putting words together, he merely closed the gap between their faces.

This time, Flynn managed to hold onto consciousness until the kiss was over before passing out.

* * *

The next time Flynn awoke, he found himself in a bed at the Aurnion inn. He started to yawn, but forcing his lungs to expand that much was more exertion than he could handle. It instead turned into a hoarse cough. He tasted copper and when he pulled his hand away he found dark, congealed blood.

"Hey, you're awake."

Flynn looked up in time to see Yuri cross the room and sit on the side of the bed. "Here." He handed Flynn a cloth to wipe the blood in his hand. "You look like shit, you know."

Flynn scowled at him, because Yuri more closely resembled a corpse than a living person himself. But, Yuri was up and walking around while Flynn was still in bed, so he had to concede that Yuri was in better condition.

Flynn looked down at himself to see what his condition even was. Bandages circled his bare chest, but most surprising was the tube they were holding in. His fingers gently nudged it and he realized the rubber went all the way into his chest.

Yuri saw his confusion and said, "They're draining fluid or something. Estelle explained pretty quickly so I don't know exactly what's happening, but it's something about having too much blood and fluids in your chest cavity."

Flynn nodded slowly. The pressure in his chest had gone down, though it would probably still be some hours before it finished draining and his lung was able to inflate.

"So, how the hell did you manage to cast First Aid on me? Gels restore health, yeah, but not the strength you need to cast artes."

Flynn took a moment to try to find the simplest way to explain because he knew he couldn't handle many words. "Energy… conversion…physical… to spiritual." He held the cloth over his mouth as he coughed again. Most of the blood in his chest was being drained out the tube, but some of it still managed to come up his throat.

Yuri patted his shoulder. "Don't strain yourself. So, I guess it's up to me to do the talking for both of us."

Flynn lowered the cloth and looked to him apologetically.

"Am I understanding this right? You converted your own life into energy to manipulate aer?"

Flynn nodded slowly.

"Damn. I didn't even know you could do that."

Flynn shrugged; he hadn't known he could either.

Yuri looked away, a slight frown on his face. "You literally gave me part of your own life. That's…"

Flynn reached for Yuri's hand on the mattress and squeezed. _You're worth it_.

Yuri smiled at him. "I'm sorry I made you wait so long for an answer."

Both of them were still alive, which was enough of a miracle Flynn couldn't waste any time being annoyed with Yuri for anything. Today they were alive, and today they'd both made their feelings known. Anything that came before that was meaningless. He squeezed Yuri's hand again and smiled back.

Yuri chuckled. "I think I like mute Flynn. He can't yell at me."

Flynn pulled his hand away and his smile turned cross, though it was hard to appear intimidating when he had to do it between deep gulps of air.

Yuri's laughter increased. "Hey, don't give me that look. I'm certain you'll voice all your displeasure with me for breaking my promise about the gel as soon as your lung re-inflates."

Honestly, Flynn wasn't too torn up about the gel. His annoyance at Yuri for breaking his promise was drowned out by his happiness at being alive. Yuri had given up his chance at life to save Flynn, and Flynn had repaid him by sacrificing a piece of his own life. As far as he was concerned, they were even.

"We're going after the Adephagos tomorrow. Our little adventure in the woods delayed it, but we should be good. Estelle says she wants me to take it easy today just in case, but that I'm probably ok. I was lucky – the sword missed my lung and skewered my liver, and all things considered, livers are pretty easy to heal. You're probably going to need to stay here for at least few more days until you can breathe again, but with enough time you'll be fine." Yuri reached his arms up and stretched, yawning deeply. "Actually, I'm exhausted. Hardly got any sleep last night, you know, what with being impaled and all."

Flynn gestured at the neighbouring bed with his head.

"What, sleep all the way over there? I think I'm fine where I am." He kicked off his boots, pulled up his legs, and slid under the blanket with his body pressed against Flynn's. "The last time I was this close to you, you were dying. I don't want that to be the strongest thing on my mind. _This_ is how I want to remember you when we head out tomorrow." He leaned close, gently kissing the side of his neck. "Thanks for giving me your life, Flynn. But in the future… I think we should share it."

Flynn wouldn't have protested even if he could speak.


End file.
